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Tuesday, August 28, 2007

A Closer Look: Nano Aquarium

After receiving many questions on my new nano aquarium I've decided to go into a bit more detail:

Lighting - It's a clamp light from Ikea called DINGE with an 8 watt compact fluorescent flood bulb of normal "soft white" color temperature. It's kept on for about 8 hours a day and is clamped onto the side of my desk bookshelf above the tank.

Temperature - There is no heater in the tank, but my computer sits right beneath it under the desk, so it gets a constant stream of warm air flowing past it, keeping it slightly warmer than room temperature.

Water Changes - I change about 40% of the water every week using a small plastic cup.

Fertilizers - I use no fertilizers, since the light is not very intense, the plants are not very demanding plants, and the small size of the tank would make overdosing fertilizers far too easy

In the future I'm planning on moving some cherry shrimp to the tank. The Malaysian trumpet snails that are currently in the tank are thriving and have already had babies. There are also a lot of little cyclops copepods darting around the tank, so I know the water is very clean and balanced. The gravel is starting to show a slight green tinge from algae, so I may move the cherry shrimp in sooner rather than later, as they help to control algae. I'll keep you guys posted on the progress!